Hand crafted with the finest flame maple, quilted maple, walnut, ebony or cocobolo top with a one piece Honduras mahogany body, the GTB is built for tone and playability. The GTB utilizes resonant mahogany and a flat top combined with a carefully hand-set mortise and tenon neck joint to bring superior tone and sustain. The GTB features a cut and inlayed maple wave form through the fretboard and head veneer. The neck has a flame maple stringer, and the guitar features a P90 with a humbucker, recessed volume and tone dome knobs and a 3-way switch.
The GTB is available in right or left handed versions w/ nickel, gold or black hardware.
PICKUPS
The GTB is avialble with either the Bare Knuckle Blue Note and Stormy Monday pickup combination OR the Bare Knuckle Nantucket and Riff Raff pickup combination.
The Blue Note P90 (alnico II, 6.8) is a smooth, warm HSP90 with a very open voice and touch sensitive dynamics. It produces a fat but really articulate vintage tone. The combination of slightly under-wound coils of 42AWG plain enamel wire and sand-cast alnico II magnets give the Blue Note 90 a crips, percussive tone with excellent response to pick attack. High notes sing with a true, vocal-like quality while the mids have enough weight to punch through without ever sounding honky or nasal. Clean tones are balanced with lovely note separation and chime to each string. Driven tones are effortless and easily go from subtle breakup to classic crunsh. Although voiced primarily for blues and cleaner playing styles the Blue Note humbucker sized P90s are more than capable of contemporary tones too.
The Stormy Monday (alnico II, 7.7) is a sweet, articulate humbucker with warm bass, hollow mids and smooth high end that is extremely clear and dynamic. Authentically vintage in both voicing and output, the Stormy Monday humbucker is completely handwound with vintage correct 42AWG plain enamel wire and handcrafted with butyrate bobbins, calibrated sand cast alnico II magnet, solid nickel-silver baseplate and cover. As with the early PAF humbuckers, the coils are wound asymmentrically for extended frequency response and touch sensitive feel. The Stormy Monday faithfully reproduces the tones of the brighter '57 and '58 era PAFs with smooth natural sustain, wonderful pick dynamics and string separation. Low notes have warmth and fullness; the highs are sweet and mellow while the mids are slightly scooped proiducing a soft percussive vintage tone.
The Nantucket HSP90 (alnico V, 7.1) has a raw, in your face tone that continues the legacy of the early LP Jr and LP Special playing blues and rock guitarists. The sound of a hand-wound late '50s vintage P90 is unmistakable and the Nantucket keeps that tone alive. Arguably the ultimate pickup with the best tonal elements of humbuckers and single coils, the P90 single coil has a distinct and gutsy tone all its own. The wide, squat coil creates a fatter tone compared to a Strat or Tele coil, while the twin magnet design gives all the power of a humbucker. Low notes are solid and tight, while the upper mids really grind. High notes can really sing and with a slightly breaking up tube amp, wonderful harmonic feedback is possible. A touch sensitive dynamic and the ability to clean up as the volume is backed off, the Nantucket HSP90 really does lend itself to a huge range of playing styles.
The Riff Raff humbucker (alnico V, 8.2) has a tight and puncky bass response with a smooth bite in the high-end; the epitome of the voice of early '60s humbucker-driven rock 'n' roll. The Riff Raff is based on the shorter rough cast alnico V PAFs of the 1960s with a more symmetrical wind of 42 AWG plain enamel wire providing more focus in the upper-mids and brighter highs. With the same build standard and components of the other vintage humbuckers, the Riff Raff delivers a more aggressive vintage tone and unmistakable rock voice. The bottom end is deep but very controlled and coupled with the extra cut in the high end, allows for plenty of snap and a classic range of organic, clean and driven tones. Although voiced as a vintage rock humbucker, hard rock and metal players will enjoy the punchy and focussed tone when used with high-gain rigs.
"It's a classy piece. It feels familiar and quite classic. The quality of the sound is hugely impressive. Musical is the word. Workmanship and sound are impeccable" - Dave Burrluck, Guitarist Magazine UK
- Premium book matched AAA flame maple top
- 1 piece Brazilian mahogany body and neck with maple stringer
- Ziricote binding w/ 2mm mother of pearl dots
- 17 degree headstock angle
- Ziricote peghead veneer w/ maple wave
- Ziricote fingerboard w/ maple wave
- Mortise and tenon neck joint w/ contoured heel
- Bone nut
- Medium "C" neck shape
- 12" fretboard radius
- 24 3/4" scale length
- 22 medium 18% nickel-sliver fretwire
- MOP 4mm dot fingerboard inlays
- Fully adjustable truss rod
- Bare Knuckle Blue Note or Nantucket neck p/u
- Bare Knuckle Stormy Monday or Riff Raff bridge p/u
- Recessed volume & tone dome knobs
- 2 CTS 500K pots (volume push-push, split)
- Jenson cap 0.022 pu
- Switchcraft output jack
- Nashville TuneOMatic bridge
- String through
- Grover Keystone machine heads
- Grover locking strap buttons
- Light poly-based finish
- Inset engraved serial number coin
- James Collins Hiscox Hardshell case